‘One Piece’ Chapter 912 Release Date, Spoilers: Answer to Shonen Jump Puzzle Hints at Flashbacks to Ace's Wano Journey

Before “One Piece” chapter 912 gets released, Weekly Shonen Jump gave away a teaser for the upcoming manga installment in a form of a logic puzzle. Curious fans recently solved it, leading to assumptions that the next chapter will feature flashback scenes about Portgas D. Ace.

To recap, Portgas D. Ace is the adopted brother of Luffy. Although they are not biologically related, they look very much alike but still have contrasting features. For example, Ace is illustrated with a more serious-looking face and a tall and muscular physique — all of which are the opposite of Luffy’s qualities.

The teaser puzzle for “One Piece” chapter 912 from Weekly Shonen Jump features admirals from the series. According to a fan with username Admiral Ryokugyu on Opforum.net, the numerical equivalent of the admirals in the mathematical questions are based on the order of the animals of their respective Chinese zodiac symbol.

With that logic, Fujitora and Ryokugyu means (Ox) 2 + (Tiger) 3 = 5, Sakazuki and Kizaru means (Dog) 11 + (Monkey) 9 = 20, Kuzan is paired with himself means (Rooster) 10 + 10 = 20, and lastly Luffy is paired with an anonymous character. But Luffy also takes the Monkey sign, which means [the value of the mystery character] + 9 = 10; the unnamed pair to Luffy translates to 1.

To determine who the mystery character in “One Piece” chapter 912 is, fans also analyzed that each pairing has persons friendly or close to each other. Fujitora and Ryokugyu have been friends since joining the Military Draft together while Sakazuki and Kizaru are naturally good friends since they are the remaining admirals who saw the Marineford War unfold. As for Kuzan’s case, his mysterious status and allegiance might explain why he was matched up with himself in the puzzle.

Now, on the question of whom Luffy is paired with, fans speculate that the mystery character is most likely a pirate as well. And he also has to be in very good terms with the Straw Hats leader. Also noting that “One Piece” creator Eiichiro Oda previously hinted that a major flashback sequence will take place in the Wano arc. And that could happen in “One Piece” chapter 912.

So the clues for “One Piece” chapter 912 events include a flashback sequence featuring Wano at an earlier time and relating to a character that was very close to Luffy. Then, curious fans also guessed that the number 1 is often the value of the ace playing card in many games.

These could all mean that “One Piece” chapter 912 is featuring a major flashback sequence about Portgas D. Ace’s previous journey to Wano. It can be recalled that he briefly mentioned Wano, where he learned to make Kasa or a traditional Japanese hat.

The official copy of “One Piece” chapter 912 with English text will be released on July 23. But raw copies with Japanese text are typically out three days earlier.